Liberty of the Seas August 2010 Review - Part 3

Time for part 3 of my review or our Liberty of the Seas cruise from August 22nd.  If you haven't read the previous installments, check them out -
Part 1
Part 2.

The Itinerary:
The itinerary has never really been a huge determining factor in my cruise decisions as I'm much more interested in the ship.  Let's face it, after 7 cruises to the Caribbean, we've pretty much been to all the major stops more than once.  This particular cruise made calls to St. Maarten, San Juan, and Royal Caribbean's private stop, Labadee.  I liked the itinerary mainly because it gave us more ship time with there being only 3 stops.

After 2 days at sea we arrive for our first stop in St. Maarten.  The smallest island divided among 2 countries, we docked near Philipsburg, on the Dutch side.  Arrival was at about 9:00 AM and we stayed until 6:00PM.  I had wanted to take a taxi to Maho Beach near the airport.  If you haven't heard about this beach, it is right at the end of the runway and planes coming in for a landing pass overhead so low it looks like you can reach out and touch them.  There is also a practice of holding onto the fence and trying not to get blown away as planes taking off throttle up their engines.  Sadly, we didn't go as there really is nothing much else to do except for a couple of bars, one of which gives free drinks to topless women - not good since we would be bringing our 16 year old son.  It was also hot....very hot.  Instead we took a water taxi to Philipsburg which is a 5 minute trip and costs $6.00 per person for unlimited rides.  There we wandered around, did some shopping, and had lunch at one of the many restaurants and cafes in the area.

There is great shopping on St. Maarten, especially the Dutch side.  Electronics like cameras and computers can be had for low prices.  There is also plenty of dining available on the island.  The Dutch side seems to have more Caribbean type eateries while the French side has, you guessed it, more French cuisine.  There is also the island of Anguilla just off to the north of St. Maarten that can be accessed via ferry service from Marigot on the French side.  I have read that Anguilla is less crowded and popular with the rich and famous.  You will also find that there are many fine restaurants on the island as well.  We didn't go but if you do, take your passport, Anguilla is a British island so you will have to pass through customs.

San Juan, Puerto Rico was our second port of call and we were excited to check it out again.  We had only been to San Juan once before and had always talked about coming back.  Unfortunately, our stay was short as we were only in port from 7:00AM until 2:30PM so we had to make the most of our time.  Before we left I did some research on what to do and see in San Juan and I found a blog with a self guided walking tour of Old San Juan.  There were two parts Part 1 and Part 2 so I printed them out and took them with us determined to do our own tour of the historic part of the city.

The day didn't start great as it began raining as soon as we stepped off the ship, but that ended and it cleared up about a half hour later.  By then, we were kind of wishing it would cloud up again as it was blistering hot.  We started on the walking tour and we saw La Casita, Paseo de la Princesa, San Juan Gate, San Juan Cathedral, and finally El Morro which completed part 1 of the walking tour.  El Morro took up most of the time as it is a large site with lots to see.  We were already pretty tired and sweating profusely after that so we kind of cut part 2 of the tour short.  We did see Christo Chapel and hit the shopping district on Fortaleza Street.  We ended the day in San Juan by having a nice lunch at the Parrot Club, a popular local restaurant on Fortaleza Street.  The food was great and so were the Mojitos.  Maybe some day we'll take a cruise that leaves from San Juan so we can fly in a day or two early to spend more time checking the place out.

Our final stop was at Royal Caribbean's private destination of Labadee, Haiti.  This is the sixth time we've been to Labadee and it has changed each time.  The first time we were there it was basically a beach with some areas to eat and that was about it.  The ship anchored in the bay and guests tendered to a small pier near the beach.  Since then there have been continual improvements to the beach and amenities as well as additional shore activities like jet skis, kayaks, a small water park and other Labadee based excursions.  Since the last time we were there in 2006, they have add a whole array of new stuff to the area.  They have built more permanent structures like bars and grills, paths have been added throughout the area, new activities like a huge zipline that soars from the top of a mountain over the beach just feet above the water, a roller coaster of sorts that also runs from the top of the mountain, more bathrooms, lockers for your stuff, and many more excursions exclusive to Labadee.  Most importantly, they also added an actual pier for the ship to dock.  Passengers no longer have to tender to Labadee, they can now just come and go as they please by stepping off the gangway to the pier.  I would say that is the biggest improvement they have made and I imagine it was built with the Oasis Class ships in mind as it would be a nightmare to shuttle 5000+ passengers back and forth via tender.

Even with all those improvements, we didn't really do much on Labadee.  My wife didn't even leave the ship as she decided to take advantage of the empty ship to relax and get some spa treatments done.  My son and I went ashore and walked around, exploring some of the new stuff there but it was really too hot to sit out on the beach so we had lunch and headed back to the ship to take advantage of the mostly empty pools.  We had thought about doing the coaster but it was booked for most of the day.  We should have bought tickets ahead of time.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Going Home:
After a final day at sea, we arrived back in Miami on Sunday morning at about 5:30AM.  We decided to do what we did last time and take part in the express departure option which allows you to be the first off the ship as long as you handle all your luggage.  So instead of putting the tags they give you the night before on your bags and putting them outside your cabin, you simply keep them with you and show up at the gangway first thing in the morning and you are allowed off.  We were on line by 6:00AM and we were off the ship and in our car headed home before 7:00AM.  If you pack light, this is the way to go.... if you're in a hurry to get home.

The drive home was pretty uneventful and we made good time.  We arrived home at around 4:00PM on Monday, kinda glad to be home but a little depressed that another cruise had come and gone so quickly.

The Verdict:
What can I say, it was another great cruise vacation.  I can't say that I've ever had a bad time on any of  the 13 cruises that I've been on.  We've been on some with very bad weather, some that have skipped ports, some that have had so-so entertainment and some that were on old outdated ships, but they've all been fun and enjoyable in their own way.  That's why I love cruising so much and why there will be many more in our future.

Now, I'm off to check pricing for Allure of the Seas for next year.